The U.S. would significantly scale back its diplomatic presence in Africa and eliminate State Department offices focused on climate change, democracy and human rights, according to a draft executive order from the White House.
Framed as a cost-cutting measure that “reflects the priorities” of the administration, the draft order outlines sweeping reductions in U.S. soft power abroad.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed the report, first revealed by The New York Times, saying the newspaper had fallen “victim to another hoax.”
“This is fake news,” Rubio posted Sunday on X.
However, a copy of the draft order obtained by Agence France-Presse calls for a “full structural reorganization” of the State Department by Oct. 1.
The aim, the draft order says, is “to streamline mission delivery, project American strength abroad, cut waste, fraud, abuse, and align the Department with an America First Strategic Doctrine.”
The biggest change would be organizing U.S. diplomatic efforts into four regions: Eurasia, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia-Pacific – with no equivalent focus on Africa.
The current Africa Bureau would be eliminated. In its place, a “Special Envoy Office for African Affairs” would report directly to the White House’s National Security Council, rather than to the State Department.
“All non-essential embassies and consulates in sub-Saharan Africa shall be closed,” the draft order states, with all remaining missions consolidated under the special envoy “using targeted, mission-driven deployments.”
Emphasis in Africa would be placed on counterterrorism and the “strategic extraction and trade of critical natural resources.”
The U.S. footprint in Canada – a historic American ally that former President Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested should be annexed and made a 51st state – would also be scaled back.
The diplomatic presence would shift to a “significantly reduced team,” and the embassy in Ottawa would “significantly downscale.”
Tom Yazdgerdi, president of the American Foreign Service Association, which represents U.S. diplomats, said officers support efforts to make government more efficient, but this “looks like a hatchet job.”
“It looks like we’re pulling back from the world,” he said.
The plan would impose far-reaching cuts to American soft power globally and reduce participation in multilateral organizations.
While the draft executive order has not been publicly discussed by officials, it comes amid a flurry of efforts to roll back decades-old U.S. initiatives and question long-standing alliances, including with NATO.
An earlier proposal leaked to U.S. media suggested cutting the State Department’s entire budget by half.
While that plan also remains unconfirmed, the State Department announced last week that it has disbanded an agency tasked with tracking and countering disinformation campaigns by foreign governments.
The administration has also already eliminated the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID.
The new draft order states that current offices dealing with climate change, oceans, global criminal justice and human rights would be eliminated. Also on the chopping block is the State Department’s office for Afghan women and girls.
A decades-old program aimed at fostering U.S. cultural and English-language outreach around the globe would be partially dismantled.
The Fulbright Program, which funds research and teaching scholarships for Americans abroad and brings foreign students to U.S. institutions, would see many of its opportunities eliminated.
This would follow the ongoing dismantling of Voice of America, the U.S. government-funded network built to broadcast into repressive regimes.
Yazdgerdi called the effort a “self-inflicted wound” for the U.S..
Soft power, he said, is “what showcases America. This is the inspiring element. Yes, there’s a fearful element in that we have an awesome military – and you need that, of course – but this is what inspires people.”
“You’re basically ceding the field to countries that have no issue filling the void – Russia and China immediately spring to mind,” he said.
